offertory
Americannoun
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offertories
plural
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(sometimes initial capital letter) the offering of the unconsecrated elements that is made to God by the celebrant in a Eucharistic service.
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Ecclesiastical.
noun
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the oblation of the bread and wine at the Eucharist
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the offerings of the worshippers at this service
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the prayers said or sung while the worshippers' offerings are being received
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of offertory
1350–1400; Middle English offertorie < Medieval Latin offertōrium place to which offerings are brought, offering, oblation, equivalent to Latin offer ( re ) ( see offer) + -tōrium -tory 2; cf. oblation
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
As the priest then began the offertory portion of the liturgy, which often is accompanied by quiet music, the organist played a reflective piece very slowly.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 24, 2025
Whidden, a tenor, sang an offertory song titled “The Anchor Holds.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 12, 2025
In its federal bankruptcy court filing, the diocese said that about 40 percent of its annual revenue typically comes from offertory collections at its parishes.
From New York Times ● Oct. 1, 2020
The Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales also says there should be no offertory procession or collection, and parishioners should be encouraged to give online instead.
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2020
Sister read Doña Laura's note explaining that this was an offertory bank, and everyone got to work a penny in the cloud and watch the little figure rise.
From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez
Father Burrowes was even more successful as a preacher than he hoped; ascribing the steady flow of offertories to Divine favour, he instituted during the next four years, priories at Aldershot and Sandgate.
From The Altar Steps by Compton MacKenzie
His church music, consisting of six masses, many offertories, and the great "Hallelujah" of Klopstock, is still performed in Germany.
From The Great German Composers by George T. (George Titus) Ferris
In these days of monetary difficulties and agricultural depression the frequency of offertories is often a question difficult of solution.
From Churchwardens' Manual their duties, powers, rights, and privilages by George Henry Sumner
Piano voluntaries, preludes, offertories, and postludes for religious services and Sunday schools. © 30Jul28; A1084933.
From U.S. Copyright Renewals, 1955 July - December by Library of Congress. Copyright Office
Even in the eighteenth century, church offertories in England were asked and given to loose captives out of prison.
From The Age of Erasmus Lectures Delivered in the Universities of Oxford and London by P. S. (Percy Stafford) Allen
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
